TABLE 1 Trends in the Business Portion of Practices
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Patients seen each week 108 116 107 127 125
% Contact lens (CL)-wearing patients 37 36 35 34 34
# CL fits/refits per week 27 27 24 26 25
Estimated % gross practice revenue from CLs 35 34 37 32 30
Estimated % net practice revenue from CLs 29 28 26 27 25
Correspondingly, most respondents felt that about 33% of their gross profit and about 25% of their net profit was derived from the contact lens portion of their practices. These are the lowest estimates for revenue associated with the contact lens portion of the business that we have ever noted. Yet, 62% of practitioners believe that they will see an increase in their overall contact lens practice in 2014, while 36% believe that it will stay the same, and only 2% believe that it will be decreasing further.